[NEWS] Youth residences to be named for late local leader

From the Philadelphia Gay News:

Ground will be broken next month on a pioneering youth residence, which will be named for one of the community’s own pioneers.

Project HOME recently unveiled the name of its new LGBT-friendly youth facility: Gloria Casarez Residence. The building is named for the late LGBT leader, who served as the first director of the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs, from 2008-14, and also previously helmed such agencies as GALAEI. Casarez died in October 2014 from complications of cancer.

A number of community tributes have sought to memorialize Casarez since her passing, including the renaming of the 200 block of South 12th Street as Gloria Casarez Way and a community-made memorial featuring her portrait on that same street.

Kate Gormley, young-adult program manager at Project Home, said Casarez’s legacy of advocacy work made her name a natural fit for the building.

“Anyone who knew or worked with Gloria knew how passionately she worked for LGBTQ youth, and earlier in her career she also spent a great deal of time working for the rights of homeless individuals,” Gormley said. “She was really one of the inspirations that the committee drew from for this project. It seemed perfect to name the building after her, as it brings together the two populations she worked tirelessly to advocate for.”